Well, it could be an indication of the rather convoluted way my mind works…

But stay with me, for today we
will explore the trinity together.
On the cover of your bulletin you have a copy of an icon called The Three Visitors by a 15th century Russian iconographer by the name of Rublev. The three visitors is a depiction of the three angelic guests who came to Abraham to tell him two things: The first was that Abraham's wife Sarah, despite her advanced years, was going to have a child. The second was that the guests had come to bring judgment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness.

These three guests are considered by Old Testament Scholars to be theophanies, or showings of God. Rublev used them to create an icon of the Trinity.
If you look at the icon on your bulletin, you will see the three angelic guests sitting around a table. The figure in the center is Christ, robed in the red of his passion. Notice that his hand is formed in the traditional pose of the blessing - two fingers up. He is looking at the Father, clothed in a garment that radiates majesty - if we were to be looking at the original, we would see that the garment is infused with gold.
The Father is looking at the third figure, the Holy Spirit, clothed in green which signifies the Spirit's work in creation.
The Holy Spirit is looking at…
Christ - or is he?

On the table is a chalice, a reminder of the Eucharist. In the background, hard to see in this depiction, is a building to the left, and a tree in the center, supposed to be the Oaks of Mamre, where the three visitors met with Abraham.

Notice the perspective. Icons are written, or painted in reverse perspective. If you look at most paintings, the background recedes into the distance; so if this were a regular painting, the table would be narrower at the back, and the figure of Christ would be slightly smaller than the ones in front. This icon is the opposite. Christ is the center, and the perpective of the front is narrower than where he is. It is as though this icon invites us in to the image - and as we enter in, we find that it is bigger, not smaller; larger and larger the deeper we go.

Notice also that the figures look at one another in a constant and continual gaze around the circle. Or do they? Who is the Holy Spirit looking at? In most icons the figures point to, and look at Christ. In this one, in which the threeness of God is the subject, all three are the object of one another's gaze.

But there is also room for a fourth, and I wonder if perhaps the Holy Spirit is looking at that empty place at the table right in front. Looking, perhaps for that one who has been invited in….

And so we come to the images and Ideas that I came to about the Trinity this week:
That God, who, in Celtic Spirituality is called the Threeness of the Oneness, coexistent and coequal as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, live in a perpetual relationship of love so great - so far beyond what we can imagine, that the Love is in fact the energy that emanates from all, ties all together, Trinity in Unity.

And that that love is so great that it creates room at the table -
Room for anyone willing to enter into this rather dangerous and overwhelming relationship. Because the one who enters in will also be overwhelmed by Love.

Back to that café table on the terrace, overlooking the Mediterranean:
I can't imagine a more peaceful, or beautiful spot.
And the interesting thing about the painting is that there is room at that table, just as there is room at the table in this icon.
Room for people to come and be part of the picture,
to take in the beauty and majesty of God's creation,
to become part of the scene,
painted in, as we are grafted in to God's great family.
Today's reading from Corinthians encourages us to live in a manner that is in keeping with Trinitarian ethics: to put things in order; to agree with one another, to live in peace.

to be a community in which it is normal to give oneself away for the sake of another; to live in harmony; to let love have its way completely.
To be separate, distinct, and Unified, all at the same time.
This week we have all been reading about the devastation in Myanmar, and the fact that so much aid, so much concern for this nation, is virtually waiting on the ready to help in the rescue, and yet the majority of the help is refused.
Several ships from our Navy await offshore, with the ability to turn seawater into fresh drinking water at a rate of 200,000 gallons a day.
These ships come with food, medical supplies, everything needed for disaster relief.
True life-saving things await, and yet the government will not allow us to help.
Those who desire to help have an understanding of what it means to be community -
- of what it means to live in our own finite ways in the love of the trinity. Whether they acknowledge God or not, they are showing forth the love that is resident in the Kingdom of God.
And it is that Kingdom of God that we are called to share in Trinitarian-esque community.
This was the call Jesus gave his disciples in today's gospel, and this is the call that we take on as his disciples today -
- to share the good news of God in Christ, and Christ in us, to all,
- and to baptize in the name of that Holy Trinity,
- so that from Day One of a person's Christian walk,
- they are surrounded, infused, and invited into the love of the Trinity.

We are called share with all we come in contact with, that God, Father Son and Holy Spirit await offshore with life-giving love and aid.
The table awaits, and God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is their host.
All they have to do is accept the invitation.
In the name of the Trinity.
AMEN